Locking device for cabinet drawers



Dec. 27, 1960 E. BERGMAN 2,966,384

LOCKING DEVICE FOR CABINET DRAWERS Filed Dec. 24, 1958 INVENTOR: EDWARD BERG/WAN LOCKING DEVICE FOR CABINET DRAWERS Edward Bergman, New York, N.Y., assignor to Art Steel Company, Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Dec. 24, 1958, Ser. No. 782,940

1 Claim. (Cl. 312-218) This invention relates generally to drawer cabinets, and has particular reference to locking devices for the sliding drawers of filing cabinets.

It is a general object of the invention to provide a simple, effective locking means easily installed in cabinets of conventional construction and arranged to provide blocking means or latches in the path of elements provided on the drawers or any of them to thereby prevent opening movement of the drawers.

It is a more specific object of the invention to provide a locking means of this character in which horizontal movements of a cam plate are effective to cause up and down movements of a vertical locking bar to thereby interpose elements into the path of movement of special projections on the drawers, or else remove the elements to a non-obstructing position.

More particularly, the invention contemplates the provision of a lock-controlled cam plate having a slot into which a pin projecting from a vertically-movable locking bar projects, the slot in the cam plate being so shaped that it will raise or lower the locking bar according to the direction of movement of the cam plate, so that the locking bar when lowered will move elements carried by it into the path of movement of projections on the drawers, thereby preventing opening movement of the drawers, and so that the locking bar when raised will move the elements out of the path of movement of such projections, thus allowing the drawers to be opened.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the elements carried by the locking bar are spring-pressed latches supported for limited movement on the bar, each latch having a forwardly-directed inclined cam face, whereby closing movement of the drawers is never impeded.

In accordance with the simplified arrangement of parts afforded by this invention, a spring constantly urges the slotted cam plate toward a position in which the obstructing latches on the locking bar are out of the way; and a releasable locking means is provided, preferably key-controlled, to lock the slotted cam plate in the opposite position in which the locking bar is effective to prevent opening of the drawers.

One way of achieving these objects and advantages is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which- Fig. 1 is a perspective view, with certain parts in section, showing the improved locking device;

Fig. 2 is a face view of a section of the locking bar, showing one of the latches thereon together with the projection on the drawer for engagement therewith;

Fig. 3 is a face view, on a reduced scale, of the blank from which the cam plate is formed, and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of a portion of the structure of Fig. l, as seen from the left of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawing, 1 indicates generally the lock housing of sleeve-like character in which a lock 2 of known construction is mounted. The housing 1 includes overlying plate members 3 and 4 which are secured by screws 5 to the top cross member 6 forming part of tates Patent 0 2 the cabinet in which the sliding drawers are mounted. The lock is preferably mounted in the upper part of the cabinet above the drawers, with the front of the lock exposed through the front wall 40 of the cabinet frame, as shown in Fig. 4.

- The plate member shown at 4 is in the form of a metal stamping provided with a rearward extension 8 formed at its end with a vertically-extending upturned part 9. Provided in the upturned part 9 is a guide slit 10 through which a flat strip member 11 is slidably guided. At one end the strip member 11 is reduced in width, as indicated at 12, and this part is coupled to the lock 2. By means of a spring 13 the lock body 2 and part 12 are constantly urged to the right, as viewed in Fig. 4, to thereby hold the locking device in its unlocked position, as will be presently explained.

Formed integral with the rear part of strip 11 is a vertically-disposed downward extension constituting a cam plate 14. The blank shown in Fig. 3 indicates the manner in which the cam plate and its integral strip member 11 are formed. Provided in the cam plate 14 is a cam slot having horizontal parts 15 and 16 located at the upper and lower end of the slot, these parts being connected by an inclined or angular part 17.

The locking bar is shown at 18. It is vertically positioned and extends downwardly along the interior of the cabinet between the sides of the drawers therein and the side wall of the cabinet. Part of the side wall of one of the drawers is indicated at 7. The locking bar 18 is arranged for limited up and down movement, and is guided in such movement by suitable guide elements, such as the lugs 19 formed on the side frame member 20 of the cabinet. At its upper end, the locking bar is offset, as shown at 20a, and the offset end is provided with a pin 21 which enters the cam slot 17.

This arrangement is such that when the cam plate 14 is moved forwardly by the spring 13, the pin 21 will be made to ride up through the inclined part 17 of the cam slot to reach the upper horizontal part 15 of the slot. This elevates the locking bar 18 to bring it to the unlocking position. When the pin 21 is in the lower part 16 of the cam slot, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4, the device is in its locked position.

In its up and down movements, the locking bar 18 is additionally guided through a bracket 22, formed with a slit 23 through which the locking bar is guided. The bracket 22 may be secured to the side wall of the cabinet. The bracket also serves as a guiding element for the cam plate 14, the latter being provided with a tongue 24 slidably guided through a slit 25 formed in an upwardly extending wall 26 at one end of bracket 22.

For each of the drawers in the cabinet, there is provided at a suitably spaced point on the locking bar a latch indicated at 27. The latch consists of a stamping formed with spaced, parallel flanges 28 between which the locking bar is embraced but which permit limited vertical sliding movement of the latch on the bar. A slot 33 is formed in the latch 27 and a pin 32 carried by the bar 18 enters the slot. The lower end wall 29 of the latch has a vertical flange 30 at its rear end and an angular flange or cam face 31 at the front end. A U-shaped spring 34 having one end curled around the pin 32 and its opposite end resiliently operative against the bottom wall 29 of the latch normally holds the latch in its lowered position as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, yet permits rising movement of the latch within the limits of the slot 33. Each of the drawers of the cabinet is provided with a projection 35 which, in the form shown, may be formed as a stamped-out lug produced from the side wall 7 of the drawer.

The normal or unlocked position of the locking device is that in which the locking bar 18 is raised, with its pin 21 located in the horizontal upper end portion 15 of the cam slot. The lock is normally maintained in this position by operation of the spring 13. At this time each of the latches 27 will be so elevated that the projections 35 on the side walls of the drawers can pass below the latches as the drawers or any oneof them are slid to open position.

When it is desired to lock the drawers, the lock body 2 is pushed rearwardly to a locked position. This causes the cam plate 14 to be moved rearwardly, thereby causing pin 21 to be moved downwardly through the angular part 17 of the cam slot and to enter the part 16 of the slot. cient to position the latch elements 27 in the path of sliding movement of the projections 35 so that the drawers cannot be opened.

When the drawers are slid to closed position while the locking device is in the locked position shown in Figs. 1 and 4, the lug 35 will contact the angular flange 31 of the latch 27 and elevate the latch against the urge of spring 34 to an extent s'uflicient to enable the lug 35 to pass under the latch. The pressure of the spring 34 will then restore the latch to the lowered position shown in Fig. 2 so that the upstanding flange 30 at the rear end of the latch will constitute an abutment for the lug 3S and prevent re-passage of the lug 35 forwardly under the latch until the latch is elevated by upward movement of the locking bar. This upward movement can be brought about only by inserting a suitable key into the lock body 2 to release it from its rearward locked position, whereupon the spring 13 restores the parts to the unlocked state.

The apparatus is one which can be conveniently installed on cabinets of various kinds and provides an efficient, trouble-proof lock of relatively simple construction, low in cost and easy to install.

In general it will be understood that many of the de- This lowers the locking bar 18 to an extent sufiitails herein illustrated and described, to explain the invention, may he modified in numerous respects by those skilled in the art without necessarily departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

A locking device for. the drawer of a sliding drawer cabinet, comprising a vertical locking bar mounted within the cabinet for up and down movement alongside the drawer, a cam plate mounted in a vertical plane for horizontal movement back and forth adjacent to the upper end of the locking bar, an inclined slot in said cam plate, a pin on the upper end of the locking bar extending into said slot, whereby horizontal movements of the cam plate will cause up and down movements of the locking bar, a projection carried by said drawer, a latch element on the locking bar located to lie in the path of said projection and prevent opening movement of the drawer when the locking bar is in its lowered position, said latch element rising out of the way when the locking bar is raised, a spring urging the cam plate toward the position which raises said locking bar, and a releasable lock for locking said cam plate in the opposite position in which the locking bar is lowered, said latch element beingvertically resiliently yieldablerelative to the locking bar and having a forwardly directed inclined face for engagement with said projection upon closing movement of the drawer, whereby closing movement of the drawer is never impeded by said element.

ReferencesCited in the file ofthispatent UNITED STATES PATENTS FOREIGN PATENTS Switzerland Jan. 2. 

